Unison delegates call for strikes during Tory conference

Union gathering hears appeals for co-ordinated walkouts in first week of October if talks to reform public sector pensions collapse David Cameron faces the threat of industrial action during the Conservative party conference after members of Britain’s largest public sector union called for strikes over proposed pension changes. Delegates at Unison’s annual conference heard appeals for co-ordinated walkouts in the first week of October if talks to reform public sector pensions collapse. Amid defiant warnings that state employees will not be railroaded into changes, one council employee at the Manchester conference urged workers to stage walkouts when Cameron comes to the city for his party’s conference on 2 October. “On 2 October, we should come back to this city, and when Cameron and George Osborne get up to speak they should be met with resistance,” John McLoughlin, a Unison delegate from Tower Hamlets council, in London, said. “Wouldn’t it be better if, in that week as well, they know they are going to face the largest wave of strike action in the public sector that this country has ever seen.” Unison delegates are expected to back a motion that will give the union’s leader, Dave Prentis, the power to launch a strike ballot if the pensions talks fail. Unison represents more than 1 million public sector workers – about one-sixth of the UK total. Those discussions are due to end on Monday, and the talks process was jolted last week when the chief secretary to the treasury, Danny Alexander, sparked a union backlash by unilaterally announcing a deal including plans to increase contributions for public sector workers and raise their pension age to 66 by 2020. Jane Carolan, a member of Unison’s executive, attacked Alexander in a speech that was greeted with loud applause by 2,000 delegates. “There are lies, damned lies and the inventions of the ginger Tory poodle,” she said. “We have to be prepared to fight. A strike would be nationally co-ordinated, smart and potentially prolonged.” Prentis, who is leading the union delegation in the government talks, warned of industrial action on an unprecedented scale if ministers pushed through changes such as raising the retirement age without agreement. “This is our union’s call to arms,” he said. “When you get back to your branches, prepare for action.” Adding to recent rhetoric on historic industrial battles, Tony Phillips, a member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning service, said: “This won’t be the miners’ strike. This won’t be the general strike of 1926. This time, we are going to win.” The Unison motion calls on the union’s leadership to “build unity across Unison and with other unions to oppose current and proposed detrimental changes to pension rights and, acting within Unison rules and the law, to support service groups and sectors seeking to co-ordinate official national industrial action in defence of pensions”. Building a cross-union consensus on walkouts in the autumn will pose significant logistical challenges for Unison and its peers, because trade union legislation requires pinpoint information on voting data including the number of employees who voted and the departments in which they are employed. Unison and other unions have been scouring their membership databases for months in preparation for a major vote. . Trade unions David Cameron Conservatives Danny Alexander Liberal-Conservative coalition Public sector pensions Public services policy guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 22, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.